A Biblical Approach to Marketing Series: Intro | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven

Verses:
James 4:13-17 “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Insights for Meditation:
People have a tendency to presume upon the future for their business and financial success.

It is implied that both buying and selling are necessary in order to realize gain. The key, then, is in making purchases that will add value to what I am selling so that the result is a net gain.

We do not know what will happen tomorrow.

Life is fleeting.

The basic elements of the two plans James contrasts were the same. It was the attitude behind them that made the difference.

It is sinful to put off until a future date those good things which I can do today. Ultimately, this demonstrates a spirit of pride because I am presuming upon my future existence and availability when God has given me the time and ability to do them now.

Principles for Application:
Always look to God as the One who provides financial security, not to my business or marketing ventures.

Make calculated risks for the purpose of producing a quality product and providing greater value to my customers. Consider whether the expenditure will result in net gain or loss when the product is sold.

Write out a specific marketing plan and maintain a spirit of flexibility when God brings about unexpected changes.

Don’t put off until tomorrow the good things that I can do today. Don’t get caught up in making plans, but never taking action (see Proverbs 14:23). Plans should be specific and measurable so that I know how to flesh them out in real life.

Questions for Consideration:
How can I demonstrate that my plans are founded in awareness of God’s Sovereignty and not in presumption and dependence upon my future success?

What should be included in my marketing plan? How specific should it be?

What marketing approaches are an example of the wrong attitude that James warns against?

What marketing approaches are an example of the right attitude that James exhorts us to demonstrate?

How can I make the most of my time right now?

What criteria should I use to determine if a particular expenditure will add value to what I am selling?

Steps for Implementation:
□ Write out a marketing plan and timetable. Pray over it, acknowledging God’s Sovereignty over the plan.
□ Make a specific to-do list and do at least one thing each day, starting today.
□ Make a list of what elements of my finished book will make it most valuable. Project expenses that I will need to make in order to produce a quality product.

I’ve already got a printer lined up for my final print run, but I’m at the point now where I need to figure out which printer to use for the small initial print run that I will use for Advance Review Copies (ARC). It is cost-prohibitive to use an offset printer for a small print run, so I am forced to use two different printers – one for the official print run and a digital print-on-demand (POD) service for the small run. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Lightning Source, so I think I will check into them first. I need to figure out what kind of cost I’m looking at and determine how many books I should print for this initial run. Right now I’m anticipating printing about 50, but I definitely don’t want to overlook anything and end up not having enough! If anyone has recommendations for other printers, I’m all ears!

An Interested Reader graciously pointed out that I have not revealed any additional information about my book for a while. I truly am sorry for the delay, but I am waiting for two things:

1. The final cover design image from my designer. We’ve basically finalized everything, now I’m just waiting for her to implement the final decisions so that I can present an image of the book cover when I announce the title.

2. Finish the website for the book. I’ve been working on a website and have the basic layout done. I just need to tweak the shopping cart system and add the rest of the content on the pages of the site.

I’m definitely getting closer to the end, but now that I’m back into my fall schedule, it’s been harder to devote as much time to all these details related to my book project! And I know that the speed certainly won’t be slowing down at all anytime soon!

Thanks for your patience. And rest assured…I promise that I will announce the title before the book is published! 🙂

Doshdosh has an interesting, albeit unconventional angle, on What We Can Learn from E-Mail Spammers. There are several insights that self-publishers will find relevant and practical for their own marketing efforts. Several of the comments on the post are equally instructive.

My friend (and Marketing Manager), Olivia, sent me the link to this fun Glossary of Book Publishing Terms. Some of them are perhaps a little too close to reality!

Earlier this week I finished a read-through of my book and now it is in the hands of my family members for their critique and editing assistance before I send it out to others for critique and editing.

The front cover design is finished and I’m having a photo shoot in the morning so that I will have a current bio picture for the back cover. Then will follow the task of writing a bio and the back cover copy.

I met with a good friend of mine last week to discuss the interior page design and layout. After reading my previous post on page layout, she offered her services to me and I am SO relieved to not have to learn how to use a new software program on top of everything else right now!

I also met with another friend who has agreed to be my Marketing Manager. She is starting to compile contact lists and work on some other marketing-related research. I am so grateful for her input and help!

One thing that I am definitely learning is the importance of collaborating with others. My tendency is to try to do everything myself, but it has been invaluable to have the assistance of friends with various aspects of this self-publishing business! I know I will have a much better product in the end because of the expertise of those who are contributing to each aspect of the project.

So, my advice to all self-publishers…get help! There’s a reason there is a whole industry devoted to publishing books. 🙂

This morning I awoke to find my laptop displaying the “blue screen of death.” It was a very sick feeling, but not as sick as it would have been if I had not been backing up my files regularly. After spending all day trying to troubleshoot the problem and praying that the Lord would restore my computer, it is finally up and running again! Praise the Lord! I was reminded of the importance of having a good backup plan in place. Here are a few things I recommend for authors:

1. Use an external hard drive and run an automatic backup of your book files each night.

2. If you have access to an off-site server (perhaps through your website), keep a copy of your most current work in a password protected directory to which you can upload via ftp.

3. Periodically save your current book file to a usb drive that you keep with you.

It seems like a good idea to have backups stored in numerous locations so that you are still covered even in the event of some major catastrophe. Yes, I have a lot of work on my computer that I wouldn’t want to lose, but right now, my book files are by far the most important. I don’t even want to think about how horrible it would be to lose them!

This post on 30+ Ways to Create an Incredible Client Experience has some insightful ideas that I think could be applied to almost any field, including self-publishing.

Recently I’ve been contemplating various ways to ensure that when my book is ready to market that I deliver a quality product that is above and beyond my readers’ expectations. I have been trying to come up with creative ideas of how to make the whole experience memorable and positive and think there are some helpful thoughts to be gleaned from these ideas shared by others. If anyone has any other suggestions more specifically related to self-publishing, I’d love to hear them!

HT: Chris Foley

Can you hear me whooping and hollering?! 🙂 Somehow, by God’s grace, I have reached the first milestone toward the completion of my book. I finished the initial writing phase this afternoon with a page count of 257. Here are the steps I plan to take at this point:

1. Read through the whole manuscript and see what gaps need to be filled, what thoughts need to be clarified, what sections need to be reordered and what extraneous content needs to be deleted. (Ideally, I want the finished book to be 256 pages, because of the efficiency it will lend to the printing process.)

2. Distribute manuscripts to the family members and friends who have offered to help with editing, proofing and critiquing the book. (I’m still debating whether to also hire a professional editor to go through the book once we finish this stage…)

3. Do a small initial print run of Advance Review Copies (ARCs) to send out for reviews and endorsements.

4. Incorporate suggestions and endorsements into the final manuscript and proceed with the first printing.

Of course, there are many other details to tend to that relate to other areas of publishing – like website design, marketing strategies, acquiring the ISBNs and Library of Congress number, etc., but this is an outline of the steps that pertain to the book writing/editing/printing. I’m probably even forgetting things in that area anyway! There is surely still much work to be done, but it’s exciting to finally be at this point!

Business Week has an interesting article on the future of book publishing and how book publishers can learn a lesson from the success of the web and various social networks. Definitely some important considerations for self-publishers.